Application of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging in post-stroke aphasia / 国际脑血管病杂志

Post-stroke aphasia (PSA) is an acquired language disorder, which can seriously affect daily communication and lead to long-term disability. Previous studies were mostly limited to the changes of brain morphology, and it was difficult to reveal the functional changes of brain tissue after aphasia. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) can observe the functional changes of brain regions and brain networks. This article reviews the literature on the use of rs-fMRI to explore the pathogenesis and recovery mechanism of aphasia and the changes of brain function before and after treatment, in order to provide valuable information on the neural remodeling mechanism of PSA and guide more accurate treatment.

Correlation between white matter microstructural integrity and cognitive function in patients with hypertension / 国际脑血管病杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of hypertension on white matter microstructure and its correlation with cognitive function using automated fiber-tract quantification.Methods Consecutive subjects visited Drum Tower Hospital,the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School between January 2017 and July 2018 were collected.They were divided into hypertension without cognitive impairment (HTN-nonCI) group (n =44),hypertension with cognitive impairment (HTN-CI) group (n =50),and control group (n =25).The imaging data and neuropsychological scale test results of the subjects were collected.The automated fiber-tract quantification was used to obtain the diffusion parameters of 100 nodes on 20 fiber tracts in the whole brain.The differential segments of each fiber tract diffusion parameter between the control group and HTN-nonCI group,and the HTN-nonCI group and HTN-CI group were compared.Correlation analysis was performed in white matter fiber tracts with significant differences and each cognitive domain between the HTN-nonCI group and the HTN-CI group.Results The fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter fiber tracts in 3 groups showed a decreasing trend,and the mean diffusion diffusivity (MD) showed an increasing trend.The comparison between the control group and the HTN-nonCI group showed that there were significant differences in the FA values of the midpoint of left thalamic radiation tract partial to brainstem,the genus of corpus callosum near brainstem,and frontal part and and proximal ventricle of splenium of corpus callosum (all P＜0.05);there were significant differences in the MD values of the middle part of left thalamic radiation tract and near the brainstem,the right thalamic radiation tract near the brainstem,the top of left corticospinal tract and near brainstem,the middle hippocampus of right cingulate tract,the middle part of genu of corpus callosum,the splenium of the corpus callosum near the lateral ventricle,the left uncinate tract near the forehead (all P ＜ 0.05).A comparison between the HTN-nonCI group and the HTN-CI group showed that there was significant difference in the FA value between the distributed segments of cingulate gyrus of left cingulate tract and the left inferior fronto-occipital tract near the occipital lobe,in which cingnlate gyrus of left cingulate tract was significantly correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale score (standardized3 =0.268,P =0.029);there were significant differences in the right thalamic radiation tract near the brainstem,the forehead and proximal ventricle of splenium of the corpus callosum,and the scattered distribution segments of the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus,in which the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus was significantly correlated with memory (standardizedβ=-0.243,P=0.047) and executive function (standardizedβ=-0.284,P=0.021).Conclusions Microstructural integrity of white matter was generally destroyed in patients with hypertension,but some segments were more susceptible to hypertension.The integrity of cingnlate gyrus of cingulate tract was significantly correlated with the overall cognitive function.The integrity of inferior iongitudinal fasciculus was significantly correlated with the executive function and memory.

Cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive impairment: the significance of structural and functional connectivity / 国际脑血管病杂志

Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is the leading cause of cognitive decline in the elderly. Neuroimaging studies have shown that there are structural and functional connectivity abnormalities in patients with CSVD and are associated with cognitive impairment. Therefore, it is speculated that the changes of structural and functional connectivity may be an early imaging marker of CSVD-related cognitive impairment. This article reviews the significance of structural and functional connectivity in CSVD-related cognitive impairment.

Controle neural da deglutição / Neural control of swallowing

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Swallowing is a motor process with several discordances and a very difficult neurophysiological study. Maybe that is the reason for the scarcity of papers about it. OBJECTIVE: It is to describe the chewing neural control and oral bolus qualification. A review the cranial nerves involved with swallowing and their relationship with the brainstem, cerebellum, base nuclei and cortex was made. METHODS: From the reviewed literature including personal researches and new observations, a consistent and necessary revision of concepts was made, not rarely conflicting. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Five different possibilities of the swallowing oral phase are described: nutritional voluntary, primary cortical, semiautomatic, subsequent gulps, and spontaneous. In relation to the neural control of the swallowing pharyngeal phase, the stimulus that triggers the pharyngeal phase is not the pharyngeal contact produced by the bolus passage, but the pharyngeal pressure distension, with or without contents. In nutritional swallowing, food and pressure are transferred, but in the primary cortical oral phase, only pressure is transferred, and the pharyngeal response is similar. The pharyngeal phase incorporates, as its functional part, the oral phase dynamics already in course. The pharyngeal phase starts by action of the pharyngeal plexus, composed of the glossopharyngeal (IX), vagus (X) and accessory (XI) nerves, with involvement of the trigeminal (V), facial (VII), glossopharyngeal (IX) and the hypoglossal (XII) nerves. The cervical plexus (C1, C2) and the hypoglossal nerve on each side form the ansa cervicalis, from where a pathway of cervical origin goes to the geniohyoid muscle, which acts in the elevation of the hyoid-laryngeal complex. We also appraise the neural control of the swallowing esophageal phase. Besides other hypotheses, we consider that it is possible that the longitudinal and circular muscular layers of the esophagus display, respectively, long-pitch and short-pitch spiral fibers. This morphology, associated with the concept of energy preservation, allows us to admit that the contraction of the longitudinal layer, by having a long-pitch spiral arrangement, would be able to widen the esophagus, diminishing the resistance to the flow, probably also by opening of the gastroesophageal transition. In this way, the circular layer, with its short-pitch spiral fibers, would propel the food downwards by sequential contraction.

RESUMO CONTEXTO: A deglutição é um processo motor com muitas discordâncias e de difícil estudo quanto a sua neurofisiologia. Talvez por essa razão sejam tão raros os artigos sobre esse tema. OBJETIVO - Descrever o controle neural da mastigação e a qualificação do bolo que se obtém durante a fase oral. Revisar os nervos cranianos envolvidos com a deglutição e suas relações com o tronco cerebral, cerebelo, núcleos de base e córtex. MÉTODOS: Revisão da literatura com inclusão de trabalhos pessoais e novas observações buscando dar consistência a necessária revisão dos conceitos, muitas vezes conflitantes. RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÃO: Em relação a fase oral da deglutição consideramos o controle neural em cinco distintas possibilidades. Fase oral nutricional voluntária, fase oral cortical voluntária primaria, fase oral semiautomática, fase oral em goles subsequentes e fase oral espontânea. Em relação ao controle neural da fase faríngea da deglutição, pode-se observar que o estímulo que dispara a fase faríngea não é o toque produzido pela passagem do bolo, mas sim a distensão pressórica, tenha ou não conteúdo em passagem. Na deglutição nutricional, alimento e pressão são transferidos, mas na fase oral da deglutição primária cortical somente pressão é transferida e temos resposta faríngea similar a nutricional. A fase faríngea incorpora como parte de sua dinâmica as atividades orais já em curso. A fase faríngea se inicia por ação do plexo faríngeo composto pelos nervos glossofaríngeo (IX), vago (X), e acessório (XI), com envolvimento do trigêmeo (V), do facial (VII), glossofaríngeo (IX) e hipoglosso (XII). O plexo cervical (C1, C2), e o nervo hipoglosso, a cada lado, formam a alça cervical de onde, com origem cervical, um ramo segue para o músculo gênio-hioide, um músculo que atua na dinâmica de elevação do complexo hiolaríngeo. Foi também considerado o controle neural da fase esofágica da deglutição. Além de outras hipóteses foi considerado que é possível que a camadas musculares consideradas como longitudinal e circular para o esôfago sejam a longitudinal composta por fibras espirais de passo longo e a circular por fibras espirais de passo curto. Essa morfologia associada ao conceito de preservação de energia, nos permite admitir que a contração da camada longitudinal por seu arranjo espiral seja capaz de alargar o esôfago diminuindo sua resistência ao fluxo e provavelmente e também abrindo a transição esofagogástrica. Desse modo a camada circular, espiral de passo curto, pode propelir o bolo por constrição sequencial de cranial para caudal.

Paul Cézanne, el solitario padre de la pintura moderna / Paul Cézanne, the lonely precursor of modern painting

Paul Cézanne is an acknowledged pioneer of modern painting. His work was poorly recognized during most of his solitary life. He progressively withdrew from people and society during his life, in part due to his introverted personality and a supreme effort to obtain a unique form of expression of his art, in which nature and its inner secrets played a pivotal role. In this review, we discuss aspects of his life and art, his pathological personal relationships and how they influenced his transcendental work.

Role of arcuate fasciculus in conduction aphasia in patients with ischemic stroke:A diffusion tensor tractography study / 国际脑血管病杂志

Objective To investigate the role of arcuate fasciculus in conduction aphasia after ischemic stroke using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique. Methods Five patients with conduction aphasia after acute ischemic stroke (case group) and 5 patients without aphasia (control group) were selected. The DTI technique was used to detect the fractional anisotropy (FA) of Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and arcuate fasciculus. Results The FA values of Broca's area (0. 341 ± 0. 018 vs. 0. 295 ± 0. 060; t = 4. 533, P = 0. 045), Wernicke's area (0. 303 ± 0. 009 vs. 0. 243 ± 0. 011; t = 6. 556, P = 0. 022), and arcuate fiber bundle (0. 646 ± 0. 020 vs. 0. 541 ± 0. 009; t = 7. 343, P = 0. 018) in the left hemisphere were significantly higher compared with their mirror areas in the control group. The FA values of Broca's area (0. 315 ± 0. 015 vs. 0. 280 ± 0. 006; t = 6. 246, P = 0. 023), Wernicke's area (0. 299 ± 0. 012 vs. 0. 239 ± 0. 022; t = 4. 576, P = 0. 025), and arcuate fiber bundle (0. 226 ± 0. 016 vs. 0. 294 ± 0. 007; t = - 12. 590, P = 0. 006) in the left hemisphere were significantly higher compared with their mirror areas in the case group. There was no significant difference Broca's area (t = 1. 901, P = 0. 13) and Wernicke's area (t =2. 092, P = 0. 105) in the left hemisphere between the case group and the control group, but the FA values of arcuate fasciculus in the left hemisphere in the case group was significantly lower compared with the control group (t = 28. 393, P < 0. 001 ). Conclusions For patients with conduction aphasia after acute ischemic stroke, the arcuate fasciculus has the left-dominant lateralization. Their conduction aphasia may be associated with the reduction and break of the arcuate fasciculus.

Changes in the Expressions of Iba1 and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide in Adjacent Lumbar Spinal Segments after Lumbar Disc Herniation in a Rat Model

Lumbar disc herniation is commonly encountered in clinical practice and can induce sciatica due to mechanical and/or chemical irritation and the release of proinflammatory cytokines. However, symptoms are not confined to the affected spinal cord segment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether multisegmental molecular changes exist between adjacent lumbar spinal segments using a rat model of lumbar disc herniation. Twenty-nine male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either a sham-operated group (n=10) or a nucleus pulposus (NP)-exposed group (n=19). Rats in the NP-exposed group were further subdivided into a significant pain subgroup (n=12) and a no significant pain subgroup (n=7) using mechanical pain thresholds determined von Frey filaments. Immunohistochemical stainings of microglia (ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1; Iba1), astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein; GFAP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) was performed in spinal dorsal horns and dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) at 10 days after surgery. It was found immunoreactivity for Iba1-positive microglia was higher in the L5 (P=0.004) dorsal horn and in the ipsilateral L4 (P=0.009), L6 (P=0.002), and S1 (P=0.002) dorsal horns in the NP-exposed group than in the sham-operated group. The expression of CGRP was also significantly higher in ipsilateral L3, L4, L6, and S1 segments and in L5 DRGs at 10 days after surgery in the NP-exposed group than in the sham-operated group (P<0.001). Our results indicate that lumbar disc herniation upregulates microglial activity and CGRP expression in many adjacent and ipsilateral lumbar spinal segments.

A framework for understanding shared substrates of airway protection

Deficits of airway protection can have deleterious effects to health and quality of life. Effective airway protection requires a continuum of behaviors including swallowing and cough. Swallowing prevents material from entering the airway and coughing ejects endogenous material from the airway. There is significant overlap between the control mechanisms for swallowing and cough. In this review we will present the existing literature to support a novel framework for understanding shared substrates of airway protection. This framework was originally adapted from Eccles' model of cough28 (2009) by Hegland, et al.42 (2012). It will serve to provide a basis from which to develop future studies and test specific hypotheses that advance our field and ultimately improve outcomes for people with airway protective deficits.

Understanding itch: An update on mediators and mechanisms of pruritus.

Pruritus is the most common symptom secondary to skin diseases. Advances in the fi elds of neurobiology, immunology and physiology have made it possible for us to understand and unravel the deeper pathophysiological basis of pruritus. This review aims to update our current understanding of the mechanisms and mediators of pruritus. Special attention is paid to endogenous itch mediators particularly newly identifi ed ones like endovanilloids, opioids, neurotrophins, cannabinoids, proteases and cytokines. Various theories explaining the peripheral encoding of itch are reviewed. Multiple neural pathways including the central itch pathways as well as supraspinal processing of itch and brain areas involved in pruritus are highlighted. Apart from peripheral itch mediators, spinal neural receptors are also involved in control of itch and should form part of the development of a novel antipruritic strategy. Further studies are required to fi ll the lacunae in our current understanding of the pathophysiology of pruritus.

Odontología neurofocal como parte de la terapia neural / Neurofocal odontology as part of the neural therapy

Se revisó bibliografía actualizada sobre terapia neural, se particularizó en la odontología neurofocal como forma de prevenir, diagnosticar y tratar; a través de la localización de campos interferentes en la cavidad bucal; enfermedades causadas por desequilibrios energéticos. Se concluyó que el conocimiento de esta terapia es de gran importancia para el médico y el estomatólogo, con la misma se pueden tratar y curar; en un tiempo relativamente breve y con un mínimo de recursos y costos; enfermedades resistentes a otros tipos de terapias.

Avaibable bibliography is reviewed with the aim of knowing and updating about neural theraphy and within it, neurofocal odontology as a way for treating, preventing and diagnosing diseases coming from energetic unbalances through localization of fields interferent in the oral cavity; concluding, the knowledge of this therapy is very important either for the doctor or odontologist, because with it, different diseases are treated and cured which ocassionally do not relieve with other therapies in a short period of time, and with a minimum of resources and cost. Tables are annexed in which highly successful results of this therapy are shown.